An investment strategy is a plan of action taken by investors to guide their financial
decisions on the basis of their investment portfolios. A well-written and measurable
investment strategy is the key to success of every investor. Furthermore, with the
right professional recommendations, these strategies can offer more ways of
creating better financial security.

However, today, the human financial advisors have been replaced by online
recommendation systems, an intelligent information filtering platform that assists
investors to narrow their decision-making process. Online recommendations have
become an integral part of user experience in the investment sector.

Yet, the question still remains that even though online recommendations are
changing digital reality for investors, are they good for investment strategy? The
answer is No!

There are some essential reasons why your investment strategy must not be based
on online recommendations alone. Here’s why:

You’re not talking to a real person. Pixabay

#1 You Are Not Talking to A Real Person
Online recommendations systems follow a universal algorithm due to which users
are siloed into separate segments. It does not tailor your products according to your
needs.

The system only understands that you want to create a plan, but it does not consider
how would you like it to be and what factors are supposed to be taken into
consideration.

The ultimate drawback is that you are not talking to a person but being serviced by a
machine. This means the system lacks a two-way communication, thus restricting
users from making any changes.

On the contrary, in case of a financial advisor, you are talking to a living being, who
will listen to you about your needs, your goals, and present financial status. Based
on the conversation, the advisor will create a suitable plan for you, which if you do
not agree with, can be changed.

#2 Real-Time, Face-To-Face Advice Is the Best Advice

It’s always a good and secure feeling to listen to another human voice and have a
face-to-face conversation with someone, rather than having to deal with a lifeless
machine.

When you ask for online recommendations for your investments, the suggestions are
usually coming from a computerised platform, trained to deal with your queries.
However, this is not enough. It’s only natural to have trust issues with a machine
handling your money matters for you.

Furthermore, it is an undeniable fact that financial advisors have more knowledge on
investments based on their experience in the field. You can have a real conversation
with them, asking question after question till you are satisfied with the answers. You
cannot do the same with online recommendations.

You also have tax deductions to take care of, which requires the recommendations
of an expert dealing with such matters for years. Websites can never estimate the
life changes that might occur unless a user feeds new data into it. In the same way, it
cannot get around the complex calculations of tax reporting, which can greatly affect
your financial decision in the long-run.

#3 Variety of Options

When you opt for online recommendations, the investment options in the results are
limited. This means that you can only opt for what lies in front of your eyes.

Representational image. Pixabay

If you are choosing a term policy, you would like to be judged on more than just a
few questions that you see on your screen and reap maximum life benefits from it.
You would like to know what riders are available along with the term policy, different
types of plans and benefits of the same. You can get all these answers when you
talk to an insurance provider, rather than an online recommendation system.

Furthermore, there are certain conditions that you may have doubts about, especially
pertaining to life policies wherein a divorce or death could bring in changes to the
policy, which needs to be clarified with a real person.

Online recommendations are good to go as long as your investment deals with low-
risk goals like a short-term investment or calculating your home loan or insurance
premium. For long-term goals like investment for the education of your children or
retirement, this tool only creates high risk.

Final Takeaway:

The final word is that online recommendation systems might be standing their
ground in the world of investment, but when you are not sure which direction to move
towards, financial advisors are your saviours.

A certified financial advisor adept with knowledge of your financial situation will prove
to be more proactive in aligning your investments.

Financial advisors, unlike online recommendations, can assist you in figuring out
whether you are on track with your savings and how other investment options can
benefit you in future.

Recently celebrities have been ready to invest in valuable startups. India has become one of the fastest growing startup ecosystems in the world, hence many celebrities seem to have growing business interests.

Here is the list of top 10 celebrities which are funding some major startups.

1. Ziddu funded by Amitabh Bachchan

Funds grouphomebuyers.com Wikimedia Commons

The actor decided to invest $250,000 in a startup based in Singapore, in 2015. Ziddu, a cloud service provider, was founded by Venkata Srinivas Meenavalli. It is run by Meridian Tech, and also offers free file hosting for documents, pictures, video, and audio.

2. Grouphomebuyers.com funded by Shilpa Shetty

A site which has a listing of new and upcoming residential projects from top cities. Shilpa Shetty is the co-founder of this website which has helped 200 families get properties at discounted prices.

3. Pulse funded by Chetan Bhagat

This new age photo-sharing mobile app was founded by Karthik Vaidyanath and Prakhar Khanduja. This app has a combo of articles and user-generated content. It is a bit like Snapchat, but one major difference is that you cannot take screenshots of this one. Many prominent people have participated in its funding, one name is Chetan Bhagat.

4. Healthians funded by Yuvraj Singh

One of the many startups that Singh has invested in, is Healthians. It is a home service health test platform that operated in NCR. It is now launched in Mumbai and Bangalore too.

Funds Qyuki. Wikimedia Commons

5. Qyuki funded by A.R. Rahman and Shekhar Kapur

They both joined hands in 2012 to launch a social media platform. Qyuki aims to engage Indian youth to new media content. It was built on Cisco’s cloud infrastructure and had received an investment from it too.

6. Yatra funded by Salman Khan

All of us know about Being Human. However, what we don’t know is that Salman Khan has a 5% stake in Yatra.com. He is also the brand ambassador for the company.

7. HealthEminds funded by Robin Uthappa

It was in March 2016 that Uthappa invested an undisclosed amount in HeathEMinds. The startup aims at helping people to deal with mental stress and depression. It was started in 2013, the startup offers video counselling without disclosing the identity of the caller.

Funds Muvizz. Wikimedia Commons

8. Muvizz funded by Manoj Bajpayee

Muvizz was founded by Bajpayee’s friends Abhayanand Singh and Piyush Singh. This startup offers cult, classic and independent films to lovers of cinema around the world. It is a Video-On-Demand platform.

9. GOQii funded by Madhuri Dixit

This startup designs wearable fitness bands, it also provides fitness training. Madhuri started out as an investor with GOQii founded by Vishal Gondal. Dr. Sriram Nene, Dixit’s husband, is the CMO of the company.

10. Indi funded by Anil Kapoor

It is video social network founded by Neel Grover which was launched in 2012. Kapoor invested an undisclosed amount in the startup.